Muscadine grape, Vitis rotundifolia Michx., is a substantial fruit crop in the southeastern United States, where the production of bunch grapes is limited by the lethal Pierce's Disease (Xylella fastidiosa), and other diseases prevailing with the hot and humid environment there. In the North Florida climate, muscadine fruits ripen in late August to early September. The berries vary from about 3 g to 15 g in size and their color ranges from bronze to black. When fully ripe, the berries on some previously existing cultivars such as ‘Dixieland’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,771) are generally bronze, but the berries on other preexisting cultivars can range from red to black with slightly raised lenticels, giving a somewhat mottled appearance.
Muscadine grapes have been grown for fresh market, juice, and wine, while wine grapes accounted for over 70% of the grapes produced. Commercial muscadine fine wines and port wines dating back to 16th century in and around St. Augustine, Fla. Today, vineyards throughout the southeastern United States produce numerous muscadine wines every year, which having a large influence on the economy. In Florida alone, the grape and wine industry has nearly a billion-dollar impact on the state's economy, and the industry is expanding, due to the rich phytopharmaceuticals qualities of the muscadine wines. Muscadine wines are made mainly with ‘Carlos’ (not patented) having white and ‘Noble’ having red grapes, which are highly accepted for their superior horticultural and premium wine qualities. Some wines are made with several other muscadine grapes, such as ‘Doreen’, (not patented) ‘Pineapple’, (not patented) ‘Pride’, (not patented) ‘Regal’, (not patented) ‘Scuppernong’, (not patented) and ‘Welder’, (not patented) but in small or experimental productions due to the limitations of the vine and/or wine profiles.
‘Noble’ was released in 1973 by W. Nesbitt, D. Carroll, and V. Underwood. It was selected from the cross ‘Thomas’ and ‘Tarheel’ for its potential as a high yielding wine and juice grape. ‘Noble’ is a self-fertile and non-patented grape and is the most popular red muscadine grape for premium red wine and good quality juice production. ‘Noble’ is highly productive, vigorous, and disease resistant with its purple pigments being more stable than most muscadines in which the pigment tends to brown over time. The fruit ripening of ‘Nobel’ is uniform having a less musky flavor than most muscadine grapes.
‘Carlos’ was released by W. B. Nesbitt, V. H. Underwood, and D. E. Carroll in 1970 and was selected in 1954 from the cross: Howard x NC 11-173 (‘Topsail’ and ‘Tarheel’). ‘Carlos’ was released as a bronze juice and fresh market cultivar with a flavor similar to ‘Scuppernong’. ‘Carlos’ represents most of the acreage of muscadine grapes grown in North Carolina today. ‘Carlos’ has excellent production potential and was a dual-use variety; it is the standard processing variety in muscadine grown regions and it is also acceptable for fresh local marketing, but it is not recommended for wholesale markets because of its smaller berry size. The dry scars and even ripening facilitate the use of mechanical harvesting techniques with ‘Carlos’. The vines are healthy, and yields have been good, though some Pierce's disease symptoms are present on the vine leaves. The main problem of ‘Carlos’ is berry rot, which averaged 13.7% in harvested fruits. Additionally, yield and wine quality could similarly be reduced potentially with the problem.
‘Pineapple’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,266) was introduced in 1988 having a listed pedigree being ‘Fry’ and ‘Senoia’. ‘Pineapple’ is an excellent bronze self-fertile variety that produced fruits medium-sized fruits weighted 8.5 g with 15.4% (SSC) sugar content with a unique hint of pineapple flavor. The vine vigor and yield are moderate and is disease resistant. This medium-sized fruit is likely too small for the commercial fresh grape market today, while the striking feature of this cultivar is that it has a pineapple flavor, even this is more a hint rather than a strong pineapple flavor, this feature could be valuable in muscadine grape cultivar improvement.
‘Supreme’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,267) is a muscadine grape cultivar introduced in the late 1980s for the fresh fruit market in the Southeastern United States. It was developed from a cross between the female variety ‘Black Fry’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,824) and the pollen parent ‘Dixieland’ made by Mr. W. G. Ison. ‘Supreme's’ distinguishing features were that it was an improved variety at the time of its release of the muscadine grape, and the large-sized black berry.
‘Black Fry’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,824) was developed from a cross between the female variety ‘Fry’ (unpatented) and the pollen parent variety ‘Cowart’ (not patented), also made by Mr. Ison. ‘Black Fry's’ distinguishing features were that its characteristics, such as quality, shelf life, and sugar content were superior to both parents.
Despite these distinguishing characteristics of ‘Carlos’ and ‘Noble’, customers are constantly looking for a variety with even better wine profiles and horticultural characteristics. Furthermore, we have noticed a lack of red color with ‘Noble’ wines, Pierce's disease, and fruit rot problems with ‘Carlos’ vines. Thus, there has been a need to develop a new cultivar with improved horticulture traits and better premium wine profiles, such as disease resistance, high yield, less fruit rot during ripening, distinguished flavor, and a rich and stable color for red wines.